


Savior

by JWade



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s13e13 Devil's Bargain, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-29 22:03:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13936329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Once Ketch finds out about the archangel in Asmodeus' dungeon, he can't just walk away, but he can't get him out alone either.Spoilers for 13x13





	1. Chapter 1

Arthur Ketch followed Asmodeus down the long hallway wondering where they could be going. Could he possibly have an archangel prisoner here? Had he, perhaps, rescued a weakened and crazy Michael from the cage? They stopped before a heavy cell, much different than the ones before. It was obviously created to hold something strong. He heard the heavy slide of metal against metal as the small viewing window was opened. “Mr. Ketch. Meet the archangel Gabriel,” the demon drawled, and only long years of practice kept Arthur’s breath from catching as he stepped forward to look in the window. The sight of the dirty, beaten, and despondent archangel nearly ripped what was left of his almost non-existent heart from his chest and, dear god, had they actually sewed his mouth shut? He fought the bile rising to the surface as the archangel met his eyes and he tried in that moment to reassure him with a look, but didn’t dare let anything on to the demon accompanying him. He had always known that he was playing a dangerous game, but it was about to get even more dangerous. 

He managed to get out of the meeting with Asmodeus none the wiser about his sudden inner turmoil, and immediately made his way to the men of letters bunker. Their ‘alliance’ may be very new and very fragile at the moment, but he wouldn’t be able to break Gabriel out on his own, and he would be willing to offer anything and everything to get the archangel out of this mess. He owed him that much and more. He beat the Winchesters back, and considered going inside to wait. He did still have a key after all, but he decided to just wait outside for them. Any bit of goodwill he could get going into this would be helpful. He didn’t have to wait long. It was less than an hour before they showed up. “Just because we agreed not to kill you doesn’t mean we wanna hang out and be buddies,” Dean snapped when he saw the Brit waiting for them. 

“I know. Believe me, I have no desire for that either. I’m here because I’ve come across a rather sensitive piece of information and require your assistance,” Ketch said carefully. 

“You want our help? YOU?” Sam asked incredulously. “Why on earth would we ever help you? We just barely decided not to kill you while YOU’RE helping US.”

“Because in this situation, helping me will also help you. Shall we take this conversation inside?” Ketch asked motioning to the still closed door. If he was going to be forced to beg for help, he could at least do so privately and at least reasonably comfortable. 

Dean huffed but opened the door, rather more forcefully than usual, and led the way inside, Sam at Ketch’s back. They didn’t trust him as far as they could throw him. Once they were sitting, and Ketch had offered some scotch, Dean had lost his patience. “Just say what you’re here to say and can the friendly crap.”

“Very well. As you will remember, I am working for Asmodeus, hunting Lucifer down on his orders,” he waited until he got impatient nods from both hunters before he continued. “It turns out that he has another plan, should I fail to kill the devil. He has found an archangel blade and captured an archangel to wield it.”

“Wait, what?” Sam asked wide eyed. “Where the hell did he find an archangel? Who is the archangel?” 

“That is where the help comes in. The particular archangel he is holding prisoner happens to be one that I owe a great deal to, and he is not doing well. I need to get him out of there,” Ketch said, beating around the bush. 

“Why am I not surprised that you owe one of those douches,” Dean muttered. “But seriously. We’re trying to kill Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel are dead, so unless he’s managed to spring Michael from the cage…”

“Gabriel is not as dead as you may think,” Ketch interrupted before their train of thought went the same way his had earlier. He too had thought Gabriel dead until he laid eyes on him. 

“Gabriel!” Sam gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. “He has…but how…I thought…” Sam’s mind was whirling. He couldn’t believe that Gabriel could possibly be alive. Wait, Ketch said Gabriel was in trouble. They had to rescue him! “Where is he and how do we get in?” 

“He is in hell, in a heavily warded cell. I have a way through the portal to get there, due to my service in Asmodeus’ employ, but whenever I use it, he knows. I get no time alone there. I propose that I will take you in with me, and you will hide, while the demons come to escort me to Asmodeus, and then you can make your way to Gabriel’s cell and release him,” Ketch laid out the hasty plan he had considered on the way here. 

“And how do we get back out again?” Dean asked. He knew that they were going to do this. They owed Gabriel too. More than they could ever repay. That didn’t mean he was going to be reckless about it and putting their lives in Ketch’s hands was not his idea of a good plan. 

“It is my hope that once released from his bindings, Gabriel will be able to affect his own escape, and preferably take you with him, but in case he does not, I will meet you back at the portal where we entered and get you back out that way,” Ketch offered. 

“And how do we know that you’re not setting us up? Planning to walk us right into Asmodeus’ hands? Hell, how do we know he even has Gabriel at all?” Dean asked suspiciously, giving Sam a firm look to let him handle this. He knew that even the hint of Gabriel in trouble would have Sam rushing off to the rescue regardless of the credibility and safety of the endeavor.

“I know how little you think of me, and we may have had our differences before, but you should know that it would go against everything I believe in to deliver humans into the hands of demons. I only work with demons to kill greater threats to humanity, such as Lucifer. I would never work with them against humans.”

“It’s not like you’ve never tried to kill us before,” Sam pointed out. 

“Yes. ‘I’ have tried to kill you. Human to human. The only way it should be. To deliver you to a demon would be against everything I hold dear. You may not understand the principles that I live my life by. You may not agree with them, even, but they are there, and I would sooner die than betray them,” Ketch assured them truthfully. 

“And Gabriel? Why would you care? What could you possibly owe him that would make you willing to risk your life to get him out?” Dean asked. 

Ketch sighed. This was going better than he expected. He hadn’t had to do much begging or offer anything outrageous, but he knew that they weren’t going to budge without an answer to that question. “You are aware of the practices at Kendrick’s Academy, I presume?” They nodded. “The story I gave you when you first found me was partially true. I did have a twin brother named Alexander. He and I went to Kendrick’s together. He was not as…talented…as I, however. I was slated to kill him. Gabriel came when I called and switched him with an illusion that I killed instead and took him away. He changed his appearance to keep him hidden and got him a new start in life. He saved my brother’s life and saved me from having to murder him.”

Sam and Dean both blinked at him for a moment. That definitely seemed like something Gabriel would do. At least for a child. They would wager that the adult Ketch would definitely get some just desserts, but he would never hold a child accountable for situations that adults forced them into. It made sense, at least, and was a good reason for Ketch to want to free him. “Give us a minute,” Dean said pulling Sam into the next room. 

Once they were alone, Sam turned to Dean. “We have to do this. We can’t just leave Gabriel there.”

“I know. We will get him out. One way or another. The question is whether we trust Ketch to help. Do we buy that story?” 

“I do,” Sam told him. “I told you about the records from Kendrick’s for Alexander Ketch that abruptly terminated. I figured he was dead, but if Gabriel was involved…”

“That’s just it. How do we know he was?” Dean asked. “He could just be making that part up.”

“That’s true, but we have to take the chance, Dean. You heard him. Gabriel isn’t doing well, which in Brit speak means that he’s being tortured.”

“Okay, so how about we have our own escape plans just in case he tries to double-cross us then?” Dean suggested. He knew that Sam would never accept not going, even if he would consider that idea himself. 

“Okay. Any ideas?” Sam asked. 

“Not yet,” Dean sighed. “He can’t go back so soon anyway. It would be suspicious. He would need to wait at least a few days. I say we hit the books in the meantime and see if we can find any ideas for effecting an escape from hell.”

“And if we don’t find any?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“Then we go and hope for the best,” Dean said firmly, knowing there was no other answer.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a few days later when Ketch showed up on their doorstep again and handed them a bag. “It’s time to go. I brought you some goodies that might help,” he said as he started to pull things out of the bag. “Put this around the edges of the door and then blow it. The door is really thick, but this should blast it off without hurting him if he happens to be too close to it. This is to sprinkle in the keyholes for his chains. It’ll melt them so they come off. Wear these, it’ll keep the demons from sensing you, but they’ll still be able to see you so be careful.” 

Sam and Dean looked at each other with raised eyebrows. If all this stuff did what he said it did, and the recognized enough of it to be reasonably sure he was telling the truth, then this whole endeavor was on the up after all. They nodded gratefully and got everything situated before they headed out. Ketch told them to park down the street a bit once they refused to ride with him and they were off. 

They slipped through the portal in the abandoned insane asylum and Sam and Dean had to be really quick to duck around a corner because no sooner than they appeared they heard footsteps. They managed to get by without being seen though thankfully. Ketch had given them as much of a map as he could make out to get to Gabriel’s cell, but he admitted that he wasn’t sure how accurate it was. He had only been to the cell once and went straight there from the throne room which they would need to bypass for obvious reasons. It seemed like forever stalking through halls before they saw the only door that really stood out in the dungeon. Instead of bars it was solid steel. After checking the area, Sam crept up and opened the window to make sure it was the right one and his breath hitched as soon as he caught sight of the man chained to the wall. He still couldn’t see anything but the top of his head, but somehow he knew even before Gabriel slowly looked up. He could see the defeat in his entire posture and once he was able to get a good look at Gabriel’s face, he choked back a sob. “Oh Jesus…G-Gabriel,” he breathed out as the archangel’s eyes widened once he saw who was there. “Just hang on. We’ll get you out of here,” Sam promised as he was already pulling the clay from his pockets to pack around the door. 

This was where it would get tricky. Ketch had assured them that it wouldn’t be particularly loud, but there would still be noise. They would have to hope that no one was near enough to hear it. Dean stood guard at the opposite end of the hall from where they had come in. They, at least knew that no one was that way. At least, not as of a few minutes ago. They booth winced at the loud popping sound and the creak of metal giving way and then cursed at the siren that blared overhead. Dean gave up his watch in favor of getting them away as quick as possible and rushed into the cell with Sam. Between the two of them they managed to burn the locks off the cuffs in under a minute, but didn’t dare take the time to free Gabriel’s mouth. Not yet. Gabriel was obviously in no condition to run, so Sam just picked him up and headed out, Dean right behind him. They had just turned the corner when they heard running footsteps enter the hall they had just vacated. 

It was about ten minutes of twists and turns before they felt safe to stop for a moment. Unfortunately they were completely lost, but they had other problems right now. They didn’t know how close any of their pursuers were for one thing. Sam set Gabriel down gently and grabbed his knife to cut the thread holding his lips together and Gabriel immediately gasped for air. “S-Sam,” he croaked out, reaching out a hand to the hunter. “T-thank you.” 

Sam pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to the archangel to wet his throat as his other hand slid absentmindedly through the matted hair on Gabriel’s head. “I don’t suppose you have the juice to get us out of here?” Dean asked hopefully, standing tense, watching for threats with his gun in one hand and angel blade in the other. 

“Sorry Deano. I’m totally drained. It’ll probably be close to a day before I have enough juice to even fly,” Gabriel said apologetically, voice sounding a little better at least after a bit of water. 

Dean sighed and nodded. “There’s no way we’re gonna be able to meet back up with Ketch now to get out. Not with those alarms. Even if we had any idea where we were. Looks like we get to play hide and seek for a while.”

“We need to get Gabriel some help,” Sam pointed out.

“I’ll be okay, Sammy,” Gabriel assured him. “My grace will keep me alive at least. Everything else can wait. Your brother’s right. They’re going to be guarding the portals in and out of here until we’re found.”

“I’m sorry, Gabriel. This all went sideways. That alarm caught us off guard,” Sam said sadly. 

“When does anything not go sideways with you two,” Gabriel joked. “Seriously kiddo. All in all, I’m a lot better off than I was before.” He didn’t even bother yelling at them for taking the risk. They didn’t have time for all that. He could do that part later. Right now, they needed to survive and hopefully avoid a situation where Gabriel would have to sacrifice himself back to their tender mercy to provide a distraction for Sam and Dean to escape. He would do it if he had to, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

“Don’t suppose you have any idea where we are?” Dean asked, not really expecting much. 

Gabriel shook his head. “Never seen anything here outside of my cell, and this is much different than hell was millennia ago when I was still a part of heaven’s army.”

“Yeah. I figured. We good to keep moving?” Dean asked. He was getting twitchy staying in the same place for so long. It would make them a lot easier to be found. 

“Yeah,” Gabriel said wincing and grunting as he tried to stand. Sam reached over to help him to his feet. He decided to save his strength and let Gabriel walk until or unless they were actively being pursued. No point in wearing himself out too soon. He did support the archangel quite a bit with his left arm while his right held an angel blade. He had also passed one to Gabriel. 

The archangel was moving rather slowly, but not agonizingly slow. His pronounced limp wasn’t helping much, but they were making progress. They had to backtrack quite a few times when they heard footsteps around a corner before their first encounter that they couldn’t avoid. Thankfully there were only two demons and Gabriel leaned against the wall, holding his ribs while Sam and Dean dispatched them and pulled them into an empty room to hopefully avoid detection for longer. Gabriel hated every second of it. He hated being weak. He hated the need to be protected, but he was in no shape to fight at the moment. He was running on pure adrenaline as it was. 

It was hours and a few more dead demons later before Sam said, “We can’t keep this up, Dean.”

“I don’t know that we have a choice,” Dean pointed out. 

“Gabriel is exhausted. He needs to rest. So do we for that matter. I say we find an out of the way place and hunker down to wait it out.”

“I’m okay, Sam,” Gabriel protested weakly. 

“No. You’re not,” Sam said firmly. “I can feel you leaning more of your weight on me, not to mention the way you’re trembling. You’re not gonna make it much longer. Tell me I’m wrong,” he challenged. 

Gabriel sighed and sagged against the wall. “I can’t,” he admitted. Part of him wanted to tell them to go on without him, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. They would still be trapped here. As of right now, he was their only way out. 

The conversation, unfortunately, distracted them from their vigil and they didn’t hear the footsteps coming around the corner. Thankfully, it was Ketch along with another demon. Ketch stopped short at the sight of them and barely hesitated before he ran his blade through the demon’s heart. He glanced around for a moment before he said, “Keep going down this hallway and take a right at the end. Then take your first left, that gets you into the old area that isn’t used anymore. You should be able to hide there for a while. I’ll keep them searching elsewhere.” He only waited long enough for them to nod before he grabbed the demon and turned and rushed back the way he came. Ketch, deposited the demon in another hallway and roughed himself up a bit so that he could explain missing his search partner. The body would lead them to a completely different part of hell. 

Sam and Dean followed Ketch’s directions and ended up in what looked to have once been an old lab and/or torture chamber. There was still dried blood coating the walls and they both wondered briefly if this was where Crowley had experimented on the Alphas before they put the thought out of their minds. The lab table at least would make a good cover if it was needed. In the meantime, They found a corner out of sight of the door and sat down to rest.


	3. Chapter 3

No sooner than they sat down, Gabriel passed out, crammed in a corner and curled up in a ball, like even in his sleep he was trying to protect himself. Sam couldn’t help but reach over and run a hand through the archangel’s hair, brushing his fingers over Gabriel’s cheek in the process. Gabriel didn’t stir at all at the movement. 

Only the fact that Gabriel was out so cold had Dean asking, “Are you EVER going to tell him how you feel?” 

“No,” Sam said matter-of-factly. “It’s no better idea now than it was eight years ago. He’s still an archangel and I have even more mistakes resting on my soul.”

“Sam,” Dean said exasperatedly. 

“No, Dean. I mean it. He can never know,” Sam said firmly, almost daring Dean to disagree. 

“Fine. But I still think you’re an idiot,” Dean reluctantly dropped it and changed the subject, looking around the room. “I just hope that Ketch didn’t bottle us up in here to send people after us.”

“I doubt it. I mean, he’s been on the up so far and he did kill the demon he was with. He could have just as easily pretended to lead us out and right to them,” Sam pointed out. 

“That’s true,” Dean admitted, turning to look at Gabriel. “He massively understated Gabriel’s condition though.”

“Yeah,” Sam said with a sad sigh, finally noticing that he hadn’t stopped touching Gabriel since he’d fallen asleep and he pulled his hand away. “Go ahead and get some rest. I’ll take first watch,” he offered Dean. It had already been evening when they came here so it was probably getting close to midnight now. 

Dean nodded and laid down on the floor and closed his eyes. Long practice had him sleeping fairly quickly as Sam switched between watching Gabriel sleep, cataloguing the room, and checking his supplies, all the while listening carefully for the sound of footsteps. The first thing he heard wasn’t footsteps unfortunately but a bloodcurdling scream coming from Gabriel. He instinctively pounced on the archangel and put a hand tightly over his mouth at the same time as Dean sat straight up looking around frantically. 

Gabriel’s eyes snapped open at the rough handling, filled with panic and Sam rushed to reassure him. “It’s okay, Gabriel. You’re safe…well…safeISH, but you have to be quiet.” 

Sam saw the fear start to recede from Gabriel’s eyes as he realized where he was and what was going on and when he gave a tight nod, Sam pulled his hand from Gabriel’s mouth, but didn’t go far, just in case and the hand on the back of Gabriel’s head pulled forward to his cheek causing Gabriel to lean into the touch and close his eyes for a moment. It had been so long since he had been touched kindly. “Right. Sorry,” he said sheepishly as his heart returned to a normal rhythm. 

Dean was up, looking through the door and scanning for danger. “Doesn’t look like anyone heard anything,” he finally said. If they had they would have been there by then and all three of them breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Go ahead and go back to sleep. Both of you,” Sam said, relaxing again. As much as he would when he was on watch that is. When Gabriel started to protest, Sam cut him off. “I’ll keep an eye on you and if you look like you’re starting to have another nightmare, I’ll wake you up. You need to rest.”

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could manage to stay awake anyway, but he didn’t want to risk endangering them all if he had another nightmare like that. “Okay. Thank you, Sam.”

Dean nodded and it didn’t take long at all before both of them were back asleep. Sam had noticed that once he had stopped touching Gabriel is when his rest started getting more fitful, so once Gabriel was asleep the hunter reached over and rested his hand on Gabriel’s neck, ghosting his thumb over Gabriel’s cheek from time to time, and it seemed to keep him calm. 

Dean woke up a few hours later and Gabriel had still yet to stir, so he took over the watch. Sam laid down next to Gabriel, reaching out to keep contact with him to hopefully keep his sleep peaceful. Over the course of the night, they heard footsteps more than once, but no one seemed to come in and look around. Looking through the hole in the door was apparently enough for them. 

Sam didn’t sleep long. Just a few hours. It wasn’t exactly easy to sleep on a stone floor in a torture chamber, but it was enough to keep him going for another day. He and Dean filled the next couple hours with whispered conversation until Gabriel stirred awake. Sam pulled his hand away quickly before Gabriel noticed and the archangel looked around with wide eyes for a moment before his gaze lit on Sam and the tension practically rolled off of him. He struggled for a moment to sit up, but finally managed with Sam’s help. As hurt as he was, sleeping on the floor wasn’t the best of ideas, but there was a marked lack of options. 

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked concernedly once Gabriel was settled. 

“Hurt, cold, weak, tired, take your pick,” Gabriel said feebly. 

Sam immediately shrugged out of his jacket and handed it over. It was pretty warm here anyway, and that was the only one of Gabriel’s complaints that he could possibly help with. He couldn’t help but ask as he helped Gabriel into the coat, “You’re cold?” 

“I’ve lost a lot of blood,” Gabriel explained. 

“You’re not still bleeding anywhere are you?” Sam asked raking his eyes over Gabriel’s form, trying to separate any new blood stains from the old blood and dirt caking every inch of his body. 

“Not at the moment, I don’t think,” Gabriel told him. 

“Okay. Is there anything else I can do?” Sam asked worriedly, pulling his coat tightly around the shivering archangel. When that didn’t seem to help he held out his arm in invitation and bit his lip nervously. Gabriel just scooched closer and relaxed into Sam’s side and the hunters arm went around him, holding him close, but loosely enough not to put too much pressure on his injuries. 

Gabriel leaned his head against Sam’s chest and closed his eyes, partially from exhaustion, but also just trying to memorize this moment. He knew that Sam was only doing it because he was cold and hurt and needed help. It was such a Sam thing to do. Put aside his own comfort to help others. Gabriel knew that he wouldn’t likely get to be here again so he wanted to burn every bit of this moment into his mind. Despite having slept all night, it wasn’t long before Gabriel was sleeping again, Sam looking down at him worriedly. 

“He’ll be okay, Sammy,” Dean assured him. 

“I hope so,” Sam breathed out, unable to resist leaning his head against Gabriel’s, even as dirty as he was. 

Their best guess it was about midday before Gabriel woke up again. He sat up slowly and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. “I think I can get us out of here now. Any preferences on where we should go?” 

“Do you know where the portal comes out? The insane asylum? We’re parked a few blocks away from there,” Dean told him. 

Gabriel nodded and they reappeared on the front steps of the building and Gabriel swayed dangerously, but Sam caught him before he could hit the ground. Now that they weren’t running for their lives, he didn’t have to worry about conserving energy and picked the barely conscious Gabriel up bridal style and carried him towards the car. He laid the archangel in the backseat, arranging him in a way that looked reasonably comfortable, before climbing in front with Dean and they headed back for the bunker.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a full day’s drive back to the bunker. Usually they split it up into two days and crashed overnight, but on the way there, they had been too worried about getting to Gabriel and now they wanted to get back under their wards as quickly as possible just in case the demons figured out that they made it out of hell. Dean took the first shift driving and would, as expected, go as long as he could before he had to crash, which in this case ended up being about midnight given the lack of sleep and the dismal quality of the little sleep he’d gotten the night before. When they stopped for gas, Sam went and bought a range of candy bars for Gabriel, who had yet to wake up. 

Sam expected Gabriel to be out for most of the drive. He really hadn’t been in any kind of shape to fly them out of hell, but they hadn’t had much choice. At least now he had some candy to offer whenever he did wake up. Sam managed to doze off for a few hours while they were driving, waiting his turn. By the time the sun came up the next morning, Dean was back at the wheel and Sam was grabbing a few more hours. They were only about an hour outside Lebanon when Gabriel finally woke up and Sam handed him the bag of candy, earning him a warm smile as Gabriel practically ripped open the first one he grabbed. 

Gabriel managed to stay awake long enough to wolf down two candy bars and then he was nodding in and out of consciousness again. Once they pulled into the bunker he was awake enough to get out of the car and hobble inside, leaning on Sam the whole way. He was barely able to get inside though, and Sam was getting worried. “Hey, Gabriel. Stay with me a few minutes okay? We need to get you cleaned up and check your injuries.”

“Mmhmm,” Gabriel hummed. 

“Gabe?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh just go clean him up. You know he’ll feel better once he’s clean anyway,” Dean rolled his eyes. He knew why his brother was hesitating, but seriously. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that for someone barely conscious. He’d done it for him and Cas both more than once. Just because he had feelings for the guy didn’t make it any different. It wasn’t like Sam would use the situation to molest him or something. 

“Fine, but you’re helping, and if he gets pissed, it was your idea,” Sam told him. 

Dean huffed, but followed them into the bathroom. They managed to get Gabriel to step into the tub himself and they had to drain and refill the water four times before it would stay clean enough to do any good. Gabriel was in and out during the process. Dean did his hair and left his body for Sam. Sam only did most of the body though. He managed to wake Gabriel up enough to run the rag over his private areas. Once he was all clean, the hunters hauled him out of the top and set to helping him dry off. Sam was biting his lip the whole time against the urge to go eviscerate a demon as he took in the myriad of injuries covering Gabriel. It was no wonder he was out. He couldn’t believe Gabriel had managed as much as he did. Aside from the gash on his head, the swelling in his face, and the tears around his lips from where they were sewn shut, one of his arms was hanging limply, out of its socket, there was a mass of bruises covering his chest and one of his ribs was broken so badly it was sticking out of his skin. One of his knees and ankle were swollen and filled with a myriad of colors. They were at least severely sprained if not outright broken. He was a mess. They managed to get him dried off and into a clean pair of sweatpants that were way too big on him, and then got him into the nearest bed, which happened to be the room right next to Sam’s. 

Once Gabriel was settled, Sam plopped into the chair next to his bed and let out a heavy breath. He never could have imagined that he would see Gabriel naked for the first time in this situation. Hell, he never could have imagined that he would EVER get to see Gabriel naked at all, even if he HAD known the archangel was alive and that was definitely a story he’d have to get from Gabriel once he felt up to it. He hadn’t been sitting there long before Dean came in with a plate of food for him. The older hunter knew better than to expect Sam to budge from Gabriel’s bedside when the archangel was in this condition. 

Sam sat there, going back and forth between reading a book and watching Gabriel sleep for the rest of the day. He definitely looked better now that he was clean. Just the loss of all the dried blood from his face made a huge difference. He wasn’t sure what time it was when he finally dozed off in the chair, but he was woken up what felt like a short time later by a pillow hitting his face. He snapped himself up and looked around to see Gabriel smirking at him from the bed. “Gabriel! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” 

“A little better. Why are you sleeping there?” Gabriel asked, still showing quite a bit of grogginess and Sam knew that he wasn’t going to be awake long. 

“I wanted to stay close in case you needed anything,” Sam told him. 

“I’ll be okay,” Gabriel told him, but Sam just raised an eyebrow and made no move to leave and Gabriel sighed. “Well you don’t need to be sleeping in that uncomfortable chair. If you won’t go to your bed, then get in here. This bed is plenty big enough for two,” he said with a yawn as he could feel the sleep encroaching on him again. 

“You sure?” Sam hesitated. On one hand, sharing a bed with Gabriel, as innocent as it would be would be like a dream come true in many ways, but he didn’t want to make the archangel uncomfortable. Gabriel didn’t respond verbally and just lifted the blanket in invitation so Sam shrugged and slid in, taking care not to jostle Gabriel’s injuries when he did. 

When Dean went to check on them the next morning, he couldn’t resist the urge to take out his camera and get a picture. Sam was lying on his side leaning against Gabriel with his hand resting on the archangel’s stomach and his head on Gabriel’s shoulder and Gabriel had his head leaning against Sam’s and every breath he took was ruffling Sam’s hair. Like he expected it would, the click of the picture woke Sam up and his eyes snapped open to first glare at his brother before he noticed the position he was in and blushed brightly. He slowly rolled away from Gabriel to get out of bed, but the archangel reached a hand blindly with a mumbled, “Sam.”

“I’m good, Gabriel. I’m just getting up. Go back to sleep,” he whispered, not sure exactly how awake Gabriel actually was in the first place. The only response he got was a somewhat agreeable hum before Gabriel took his suggestion and was back asleep again. 

“Breakfast is on the desk,” Dean told him once Gabriel was back asleep. 

“Thanks Dean,” Sam said gratefully. 

“So what was all that?” Dean asked curiously. 

Sam shrugged. “Gabriel woke up in the middle of the night and took offense to me sleeping in the chair. He told me to either go to my bed or lay down with him. Obviously, I wasn’t about to leave him in his condition so…”

“You took the excuse to do what you’ve always wanted to do anyway,” Dean finished teasingly. Sam just glared at him as Dean laughed and left the room before Sam found something to throw at him. 

It was a few more hours before Gabriel woke up and sat up wincing on the bed. Once again, Sam jumped up to help him, asking him how he was. “I’m okay. My grace seems to be replenished enough to start healing my body, but it’ll take another day or so before it’s done, and I can be out of your hair.”

“Why do you…I mean…You don’t have to…” Sam stammered. That just confused Gabriel even more than he already had been and that was saying a lot. When Sam noticed that, he decided to go ahead and ask the question that had been burning in his mind since they heard Gabriel was alive. “I thought you were dead?” 

Gabriel blinked at him for a moment before he said, “Metatron resurrected me with the angel tablet years ago. Cassie didn’t tell you?” 

“No. H-he didn’t,” Sam said, and suddenly all his questions made sense. If Gabriel thought they knew he was alive then he would have assumed they just wanted nothing to do with him when they never tried to contact him. “If I had known…”

“You would have found another bus to throw me under?” Gabriel asked sarcastically. 

“No. I would have…I don’t know…kept in touch or something,” Sam finished weakly. Just knowing that Gabriel was alive changed things.


	5. Chapter 5

Seeing the pain on Sam’s face as he realized that Gabriel had been alive for years just brought up a whole new can of worms that Gabriel was in no shape to deal with, so he changed the subject. “So, out of curiosity, how did I get cleaned up and changed?”

Sam blushed bright red but answered the question anyway. “Dean and I helped you out. You were with us enough to take care of the areas neither of us wanted to, thankfully and we took care of the rest.”

Gabriel blinked at him a moment. He was surprised that he had been out of it enough to not notice being given a bath. He fought back the urge to snap at Sam, knowing that it was only born of his own sudden feelings of complete vulnerability. He was an archangel for crying out loud. Other than his father, he was one of the strongest beings in the universe. He shouldn’t be vulnerable like that. It took a few minutes for him to get his desire to lash out under control before he managed a reasonable, “Thank you, Sam.”

“You’re welcome,” Sam said with a shy smile. “So what happened? How did you end up in that dungeon? How long were you there?”

“I was there for a few months. Ass-modeus was using me as a test subject for archangel weapons. My capture was apparently the test run for an archangel tranquilizer dart. I was set on by about thirty demons, but I was holding my own. I’d taken out about half of them before I felt a sting in my neck and then I was waking up in that cell in chains,” Gabriel explained bitterly. 

Sam considered his next statement carefully before he said it, but decided to bite the bullet. “I know you might not want to talk about what happened, but as someone who’s been in your shoes more than once, I can say from experience that it helps if you do.” He could see Gabriel struggling with the idea, so he added, “If you need time, that’s okay. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here.”

Gabriel took a deep breath before he bit the bullet. If anyone would understand being captured and tortured by the enemy it would be Sam Winchester. Only the fact that he knew that Sam wouldn’t think any less of him gave him the strength to talk. “The chains and warding they used were really ingenious when I look at it objectively. The chains kept my grace turned inward so I couldn’t use it against anyone or to fly away. They were even strong enough to hold up against my angelic strength. The warding on the cell was just the kicker. It kept my grace from replenishing as it was used. They just kept beating me and my grace just kept healing me until it was all gone. That took a month and a half. When they noticed that I stopped healing, they cut back on the beatings. Not by a lot, mind you. My grace still wouldn’t let me die. It would keep me just barely alive, but they liked to see me struggle.”

Sam noticed that talking about it was making the archangel shake so he walked over and sat on the bed next to him and pulled him close, noticing that Gabriel relaxed a great deal in his arms. “It was about two weeks in when they sewed my lips shut. I guess I shouldn’t have kept mouthing off,” Gabriel said with a shudder. That was really the worst part for him. He could take beatings and torture. Wouldn’t be the first time, but being unable to talk or even scream was worse. His sarcasm and wit were his armor. Without them he had nothing. 

Sam looked down at him and couldn’t help himself from running his thumb comfortingly over the unhealed wounds on Gabriel’s lips, as if to reassure them both that it was over. As his eyes caught Gabriel’s though, he lost the ability to breathe. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what he saw there; fear, vulnerability, sadness, longing, all that and more shone in the archangel’s eyes and he was mesmerized. He wasn’t sure which of them moved or maybe they both did, but when his lips touched Gabriel’s it was like his whole world shifted in that moment. It didn’t last long, and was extremely soft given his injuries, but it was enough to knock Sam’s world on its axis. It wasn’t until Sam pulled back that he realized what he’d done. “Gabriel,” he breathed out. “I’m sorry…”

“I’m not,” Gabriel interrupted, not any louder than Sam. Even if that was all he ever got, he would cherish it forever. 

“Y-you’re not?” Sam asked hopefully. 

Gabriel huffed and rolled his eyes. “Like dying for you wasn’t enough of a clue,” he muttered. No way was he going to actually come out and say anything. Not without knowing where Sam stood, but he could remind him of actual events, at least. 

Sam got the hint and his mind ran away on a hundred different tangents. Was Gabriel implying what it seemed like he was? Could he really love him? How was that possible? Sam couldn’t help the feeling that he was just a stupid insignificant human who caused more trouble than he could ever hope to fix. No, he was worse than that. He was the boy with the demon blood. He was Lucifer’s vessel. He’d caused so much pain and death in the world. How could he possibly be worthy of an archangel? But if it was true…if Gabriel loved him anyway…wouldn’t breaking an archangel’s heart be even worse? Maybe it would be best to just accept it and make sure he was worthy in the future. Maybe he really could have everything he ever dreamed of. At least for a while. Until Gabriel realized that he wasn’t worth the trouble after all. It was this thought that had his next words tumbling from his mouth, barely audible. “I love you, Gabriel.” Once the words were out there, Sam had no hope of breathing. His heart was beating so fast he was sure it was going to fly out of his chest any minute and his mouth suddenly felt like it was full of ash as all the moisture evaporated, helped along by the heat of his blush. When he finally managed to look up at Gabriel, he could see hope and fear warring in his eyes but Sam couldn’t possibly speak again to reassure him at the moment, so he leaned forward and pressed another gentle kiss to the archangel’s lips, careful not to put so much pressure that it might hurt Gabriel’s still healing wounds. 

When Sam pulled back, not very far at all, Gabriel whispered, “Sam…” with such longing that the hunter felt tears spring to his eyes. 

He knew now. Even if Gabriel couldn’t or wouldn’t say it, he knew. He also knew he had to explain…at least a little bit. He couldn’t stand the idea of Gabriel being afraid of him. Of him worrying that it wasn’t real. “I loved you the moment I met you, you know. I’m sure you noticed. You’re too observant not to have. It put a bit of a crimp in things once I knew what you were…or what you pretended to be at least. It wasn’t until the day Lucifer rose…when I realized what you had been trying to stop…that I finally accepted it. Then…when I found out what you really were…an archangel…I knew I could never be worthy of you, so I buried it. Dean’s the only one who knows. I can’t fool him for long. I know I’m not worthy of you, and I never will be, but if you want me anyway…then I’ll try to be.”

Gabriel looked at Sam like he was trying to look through him for a long moment before he reached out his hand and tucked a lock of Sam’s hair behind his ear. “You’re an idiot,” he said fondly. “Of course, you’re worthy of me. If anything, it’s the other way around. I thought…I thought when I had to go the route of Mystery Spot that I was sacrificing any chance I might have had. I didn’t think you would ever forgive me, but I had to try and save you. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you be destroyed. I’m sorry, Sam.”

Sam leaned into Gabriel’s touch letting the archangel’s words wash over him before he said again, “I love you, Gabriel.”

“And I love you, Sam,” Gabriel whispered back, feeling just as much fear as he always had, but his hope was stronger than his fear. At least for now.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the morning was spent cuddling on the bed as their conversation went back and forth between what Gabriel had been through and their feelings and future. Around lunchtime, Dean came in with a bag of food, a milkshake for Gabriel, and Arthur Ketch who looked a little worse for wear. Sam unentangled himself from Gabriel and sat up slowly, helping Gabriel to do the same, ignoring the brit’s raised eyebrow as well as his brother’s smug look. “What happened to you?” Sam asked Ketch to change the subject from the questions they were obviously all thinking. 

I managed to convince Asmodeus that I had nothing to do with Gabriel’s escape, helped by the fact that no humans could be sensed anywhere in hell, but there was still a price to pay for failing to find you. I managed to convince him that I needed to leave to report in to you two before you got suspicious of my absence,” Ketch explained. 

“So, he knows you’re working with us?” Sam asked suspiciously. 

“He does. He believes that our resources are better pooled in the hunt for Lucifer,” Ketch told him. 

“Does he know that we know that you’re working with him?” Dean asked and then got a confused look on his face. “Wait…” he made a few gestures like he was trying to order things in his mind and then added, “Yeah. What I just said.”

Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing, which was only made harder when he could feel Gabriel’s chuckles from where he buried his head in Sam’s neck. Ketch though, just rolled his eyes and ignored the hunter’s antics in favor of answering the question. “Obviously not. If he knew that then he would wonder what I was telling you and we would all be dead. As far as he knows you believed my original story about hunting Lucifer to protect humanity.”

“So why would you help me?” Gabriel got in the conversation enough to ask. 

“I haven’t forgotten what you did for me all those years ago,” Ketch said as though it should be obvious. 

“Oh really?” Gabriel said coldly. “Then turning your back on everything I taught you and becoming the very thing I despise was supposed to be some sort of gratitude?” 

All the color drained from Ketch’s face at that. He had known that he had essentially betrayed the archangel with everything he was, but that was a big part of the reason that he couldn’t just add to it by leaving him there. “No. That was survival,” he defended himself. 

“You know, you’re exactly the kind of human I would destroy in any normal circumstances, but I’ll tell you what…since you did help save me, and I WAS kinda attached to you when you were a kid, I’ll give you one out. You vow to stay away from anything supernatural from now on and never again take another life, and I’ll hide you from everything and change your appearance. You can start over. I’ll even send you to your brother so he can help you.”

“And if I don’t take it?” Ketch asked curiously, not sure what he wanted right now. 

“You don’t want to know what happens if you don’t take it,” Gabriel said warningly. 

“But Lucifer…I can’t just leave unfinished business,” Ketch protested. That was the main reason he wasn’t jumping at the opportunity. 

“We will finish that business. It’s none of your concern anymore whether you take me up on my deal or not. Either way you’ll be in no position to do anything about it,” Gabriel threatened. 

“Okay, I’ll take it,” Ketch said quickly. He knew well what the archangel could do if he didn’t and if there was one being he didn’t want to piss off it was Gabriel. Not only was he just as powerful as any of the archangels but he had an ingenuity and creativity that the others could only dream of. His punishment would be a thousand times worse than anything Lucifer could dream up for him. He wasn’t going to take that chance. 

“Good. Now you’re going to find a room to crash for the next few days until I’m recovered enough to live up to my end of the bargain. You’re going to stay out of the way and not leave this building. If I were you I would use the time to consider my next steps. Ketch nodded and turned and left the room just barely slowly enough that it wouldn’t be considered fleeing. 

“So…” Dean said carefully. “You’re going to help with Lucifer?” 

Gabriel sighed heavily. “I don’t really have much of a choice. Once the cuffs came off and ‘angel radio’ came back into focus, I learned that Lucifer is back in heaven. He’s intimidated all the angels into following him. He’s now the ‘king’ of heaven.”

“Will you be able to take him on with the might of heaven behind him?” Sam asked worriedly. He was not going to let Gabriel sacrifice himself again. Not for anything. At least if Lucifer was busy in heaven he wasn’t wreaking havoc on the earth. 

“He doesn’t have the might of heaven behind. He has their fear. Not their loyalty. Even the throne won’t answer to him. Not completely. His grace is too tainted. I could get most if not all of the angels on my side and between them and me we could take him out. The only reason they are following him at all is because he’s an archangel. He has the power to create new angels and after everything that’s happened the last ten years their numbers are dangerously low. They are looking at extinction if something isn’t done,” Gabriel explained. 

Sam nodded. He knew now why Gabriel would consider going back. He didn’t think that anything other than the prospect of extinction could make the archangel set foot back in heaven and he wasn’t willing to let Lucifer create a new army of angels that was loyal to him. “So, what do we do?” Sam asked. 

“YOU do nothing. Once I’m recovered in a few days, and get rid of our little loose end here, I will start meeting with the angels in smaller groups. With any luck, I can get them all on my side before Lucifer gets wind of anything and then we take heaven back,” Gabriel told him. 

“So, we just have to sit it out?” Sam asked distastefully. 

“Well unless you want me to make you angels so you can get into heaven and help, there’s not much choice,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“You would do that?” Sam asked. When Gabriel nodded, Sam became lost in thought. He had a few days and maybe more to think about it. As much as he hated sending Gabriel into a fight alone, that was really only a small part of the reason he would consider it. The main reason he was considering it was because of Gabriel though. If he became an angel, they could be together. He had no illusions that running heaven wouldn’t take up a huge amount of Gabriel’s time and their fledgling relationship would have very few chances to flourish. He would sacrifice nearly anything not to lose Gabriel now that he finally had him. Would this really be that much of a sacrifice though? Other than Dean he didn’t have much left here on earth, and he was sure that Gabriel wouldn’t begrudge him the chance to keep in touch with his brother. Not only that, but he would be much more useful to Gabriel as an angel, even beyond this fight. He would be able to be by Gabriel’s side for eternity. Maybe they could even have a family one day. 

Sam didn’t notice Dean leave the room, nor did he notice Gabriel lying him down and curling up to his side to take a nap. He didn’t pull himself out of his thoughts until dinnertime when his stomach growled. He never had eaten the lunch that Dean had brought. He looked over to see Gabriel, awake again, tracing his fingers over Sam’s chest and stomach absentmindedly as he gazed at the hunter. At the sound of his stomach and realizing that he had Sam’s attention again, he gave an amused smirk. “Decide yet?” 

“I think so, but I want to think some more on the idea first if that’s okay,” Sam told him. He was pretty sure he was going to take him up on the offer, but wanted a little more time before he committed to the course of action. 

“That’s fine. It’ll be a few days before I’m up to it anyway, and either way I’m gonna want to get the ball rolling with the others first. Creating angels is a rather time consuming and draining process and I want to give the word some time to spread among the rank and file while I’m doing it. IF I do it, that is.”

“Fair enough. Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll let you know what I decide. Sound good?” Sam suggested. 

“Perfect,” Gabriel said with a smile, kissing Sam gently before letting him get up to eat.


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel was looking a lot better now, but was still quite tired. Replenishing grace was an exhausting business when it was at rock bottom. The worst of his injuries were healed though, so Sam felt comfortable going to eat with Dean and letting Gabriel sleep. “Are you coming back later?” Gabriel asked hopefully. 

Sam blinked at him for a moment and felt hope well up in his own chest. Gabriel could only mean to sleep, since he was barely awake at the moment, so Sam smiled and said, “I can. If you want you can move to my room to sleep instead though.”

Gabriel grinned at that and pulled himself out of bed despite his exhaustion. “Lead the way.”

Once Gabriel laid down and was burrowed into Sam’s comforter, Sam leaned down for another kiss. “I’ll be back later,” he promised. 

Sam took the bag of now cold food and found Dean in the kitchen, so he plopped down at the table. “Gabriel’s doing better?” Dean asked. 

“Yeah. His grace is already healing him. He should be back to normal by tomorrow. At least as far as his injuries go. It’ll be a few more days until his powers are back to par,” Sam told him. 

“Good. That’s good,” Dean said distractedly before he decided to bite the bullet. “Don’t think I didn’t see how cozy you two looked in there. You’re going to let him make you an angel aren’t you.”

“I was thinking about it,” Sam admitted. 

“You really think that’s a good idea?” Dean questioned. “I mean, I know you’re all over the moon that you finally get to be with him, but that’s no reason to make such a big decision.”

“That’s not the only reason I’m considering it. That’s a big part of it, yeah, but not the only reason,” Sam told him. “What do I have to hold me here anyway? You and a whole string of mistakes and bad decisions and you know Gabriel won’t hold it against me if I want to keep in contact with you even if I am an angel,” Sam pointed out. “Besides. The angels are on the verge of extinction remember. They need more people, so Gabriel is going to be making humans into angels anyway. Why not be one of them?” 

“Because angels are douches?” Dean pointed out. 

“You really think with Gabriel in charge that isn’t going to change? They react to their surroundings. They had the head douches Michael and Raphael for a while, then Naomi took control, then Metatron and so on. With someone like Gabriel ruling heaven he can make it something great again and it might be nice to be a part of that.”

Dean sighed. It seemed that his brother had made his choice which left only one for him too. Like Sam the only thing holding him here was his brother and if Sam was going to be an angel and Cas was already an angel, then he would be too. “Okay. Then we become angels,” Dean said resignedly. 

“You don’t have to…” Sam tried to say before Dean interrupted. 

“If you think I’m going to let you do something this big without me, you’re nuts.”

“Thank you, Dean,” Sam said, visibly moved by his brother’s support. 

“Whatever, Bitch,” Dean said trying to break the emotion of the moment. 

“Jerk,” Sam answered with a chuckle, turning back to his food.

When Sam slid back into bed with Gabriel a few hours later, the archangel instinctively rolled over and curled against his side and Sam fell asleep with a smile on his face. His life was finally coming together. It had taken long enough, but he finally had a chance to be happy and he’d be damned if he was going to give it up without a fight. 

The next morning, Sam opened his eyes to see a pair of whiskey eyes looking at him and he grinned, pulling Gabriel into a kiss. Gabriel looked more or less fully healed now so he didn’t have to hold back, and he definitely didn’t. One hand tangled in Gabriel’s hair as his tongue slid over Gabriel’s lower lip and Gabriel gladly opened for him, humming contently into the kiss. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but feel like he’d won the lottery. He could tell just by the way Sam kissed him that not only was yesterday not a dream, but Sam really did love him. It was this thinking that had him hitching a leg over Sam’s middle and straddling him, grinding his hips down to get some more friction between them as the kiss turned heated. He swallowed Sam’s moan before the hunter pushed him back a bit. “You sure you’re okay for all this?” Sam asked, eyes burning with lust and desperately hoping the answer was yes. 

“Absolutely,” Gabriel told him. Truth was, he was still a bit sore. Some of the bruises weren’t quite faded yet, but he was good enough. That answer was enough for Sam though who pulled him down into another heated kiss as a hand slid down Gabriel’s bare back and inside the back of the too big sweatpants, gripping his ass tightly and it was Gabriel’s turn to let out a moan. The archangel pulled back and pulled Sam up far enough to strip his t-shirt off before he was back on him, lips moving to Sam’s neck as his hips rocked against the hunters. He lost enough control over his still barely there grace that both of their pants disappeared and then it was skin on skin. “Lube?” Gabriel asked, knowing that manifesting some himself wouldn’t be particularly comfortable at this stage of his healing. He shouldn’t have done what he already did. 

“Top drawer,” Sam gasped out and Gabriel reached over and dug around in the drawer for a second until he found it. He quickly slicked Sam’s cock up and lined it up with his own tight hole. He could take it unprepared, but he wasn’t sure Sam could and there was no way he was waiting one more second for this. When Sam didn’t stop him, he began to lower himself on the hunter’s length. 

Sam’s breath hitched, and he was doing his best to hold himself back from just plunging into the tight heat. He was going to let Gabriel take his time if it killed him and at this rate it just might. It felt like forever until he was fully seated, and he felt Gabriel’s lips on his again, soft and gentle. “I love you, Sam,” Gabriel whispered, as he began to rock his hips slowly. 

“I love you, Gabriel. Always,” Sam responded reaching his hand up to Gabriel’s cheek and getting lost in the archangel’s beautiful golden eyes. 

“Always,” Gabriel responded softly. They made love slowly and drew it out as long as they could, hands and lips exploring every inch of each other in the process. Unfortunately, Gabriel wasn’t quite recovered enough to keep it going as long as he wanted, and it wasn’t long before he was picking up the pace. The fact that Sam’s hands had found his cock didn’t help matters either and it was soon after that when they were both coming hard, and Gabriel collapsed on top of Sam, both of them out of breath. 

Sam reached up and carded a hand slowly through Gabriel’s hair as he came down from his high. Gabriel just snuggled closer and practically purred as he nuzzled his face against Sam’s neck. Gabriel was just starting to doze off, when Sam said, “You feel up to a shower?”

Gabriel sighed. “Not really but given that I don’t have the mojo to clean us up any other way, we probably should,” he pouted. 

Sam chuckled as he pulled the resistant archangel out of bed. “As much as I’d like to say I’ll make it worth your while, I don’t think you’re up for anything more than a quick wash, so rain check on that one?”

“You better believe it,” Gabriel said with a grin. What followed could only be called a ‘quick wash’ when considering that there were two people to wash as they washed each other before heading back to Sam’s room. Gabriel climbed back into bed while Sam got dressed. Gabriel could admit that he probably shouldn’t have been quite so active until he had built up a little more strength, but it had been so worth it. Even if it did mean sleeping all morning again. 

When Gabriel got up around lunchtime he was completely healed, and he could feel his strength coming back now that his grace wasn’t going towards that. He got out of bed and went looking for Sam, finding him in the library reading a rather large tome. Gabriel walked over and plopped in his lap, making his presence known. 

Sam jumped a bit at the sudden weight in his lap, but then grinned and pulled Gabriel in for a kiss. He didn’t think he would ever get enough of his little blonde angel. “Whatcha reading?” Gabriel asked curiously once his lips were free, not moving off the hunter’s lap. Sam closed the book, finger marking his page, so Gabriel could read the title. “Research on your decision huh?” Gabriel guessed seeing that the book was all about angels. 

“Yep,” Sam told him. “I’m pretty much decided that I want to do it, but figured more information couldn’t hurt and since you were sleeping, and I didn’t have much else to do…”

“Well I’m up now so I’m available for any questions,” Gabriel told him.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam and Gabriel headed for the kitchen for lunch as they talked. Well lunch for Sam, pie for Gabriel. They ran into Dean there and he’d apparently had the same idea. “You’re looking a lot better,” Dean told Gabriel. 

“Feeling a lot better too,” Gabriel told him. “Not sure if I managed to say it before, but thanks for the assist back there.”

“Just don’t make us do it again,” Dean countered with a chuckle. 

“I’ll do my best,” Gabriel responded in kind. 

“So you two all buttoned up now?” Dean asked curiously seeing how close they were sitting. 

“Yep,” Sam replied with a grin, and Dean nodded. “We were actually gonna discuss the whole making us angels thing so stick around,” he told his brother seeing that he was considering leaving to give them some privacy. 

“Yeah, okay. I have some questions,” Dean said as he plopped down with his plate as Sam was filling his own. 

“It would probably be easiest for me to just explain the process first and then you can ask any of your other questions that doesn’t cover,” Gabriel suggested. 

“Go ahead,” Sam prompted. 

“Okay, so basically I would just flood your systems with raw grace which would wrap around your core and then begin to grow until you were a full seraph. You would be sleeping a lot for a few days, much like I have lately, while it builds up from essentially nothing. It will also make me pretty tired too, but not quite so bad. Well not unless I do both of you at once and then we’ll all be have a nice long siesta. Most of the powers you’ll have access to once you’re topped off will be self-explanatory, but I can always do a bit of teaching if you’re struggling with something. That’s not very likely though. It’s mostly instinctual. I’d have to take you to heaven the first time so you’d know how to get there, but otherwise you should be good.”

“Okay. That’s comforting at least. What are you planning for heaven as a whole though?” Dean asked. “We haven’t had very good interactions with the whole organization.”

“I plan on restoring my father’s vision for heaven as a place of laughter and light. The main difference will be the contact with humans. If I were to try and create enough angels to bring our population back to where it needs to be I would run myself to the ground which means they are going to need to reproduce. I don’t expect more than a few to find partners among the angels given that they have all known each other since the beginning of time so anyone who was planning to pair of probably already would have. I figure I’ll just let them find a human to love and then bring those humans in so they have kids and stuff and bolster our numbers that way. Of course, I’m always open to suggestions.”

“A lot of the angels seem to hate humans. I can’t see them falling in love with one or even interacting enough to find someone to fall in love with,” Sam pointed out. 

“I’m sure there are those that care more about their grudges than anything else, but I think that most of them will embrace the opportunity. They have all been cut off from humans since the very beginning. Most of them are probably more indifferent than hateful. Or distrusting because they don’t understand them. Maybe we can see about teaching them a little more about humanity before setting them loose. We can figure all that out,” Gabriel was thinking aloud. 

“What if they don’t embrace the opportunity?” Dean asked. 

“Then I’ll have no choice but to start pairing them up and ordering them to make babies,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “I’d rather not do it that way of course, but if it’s that or extinction…”

“What about same sex couples? Can angels have babies that way?” Sam asked for more than one reason. 

“Oh sure. For angels, their physical appearance is more a matter of the vessel. In our natural form we don’t technically have genders so we can go either way,” Gabriel assured him, hoping that the question meant he might want to have a family with him. 

“Which brings me to another question. If all the angels are interacting with humans, what about all the vessels they would have to take?” Dean asked. He still thought it was a cruel process after all. 

“It is possible to create their own vessels. I created this one. It was just outlawed so long ago that no one really knows how to do it anymore except the archangels. I’ll just get rid of the law and teach them how to do it,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly.

“What about us? Would we be able to keep our current bodies as our vessels?” Dean asked. 

“Technically yes. They would be a part of you. Just like this vessel is a part of me. I can go back and forth as I wish, not that I’ve taken my natural form in longer than I can remember, but it’s always an option. The only difference with you two is that you would already have human forms so you wouldn’t need to create new ones.”

“But could we if we wanted to?” Sam asked curiously. 

“You COULD, but you can only have one alternate form linked to your grace so if you did then you would completely lose access to this form forever,” Gabriel told him, hoping that Sam wouldn’t take that option. 

“Okay. Yeah. That’s probably not a good idea then. I just thought it might help with going incognito or something,” Sam said with a shrug. He didn’t think he wanted to give up his body forever. 

“Well you will be capable of illusions if you don’t want to be recognized. They can be tiring to hold up for long periods, but you could get a few days as someone else easy if you needed to,” Gabriel pointed out. 

From there conversation flowed along the lines of different angels and what Gabriel could remember of what they were like, what heaven looked like, the different things they would be able to do with their new powers, and a lot of stories thrown in as examples. Lunch flowed into dinner as they didn’t even leave the table until they were headed to bed where Gabriel followed Sam. 

“I’ll probably need to still sleep at night for a few days, but I should be able to stay up during the day from here on out,” Gabriel explained when he saw Sam’s curiosity. 

“That makes sense,” Sam told him. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it won’t be much longer before I won’t need to sleep at all.” 

“It’s going to be a big adjustment,” Gabriel admitted. “Just know that it can’t be undone. Well not easily anyway. You could always fall, but that’s not the best option, so make sure you’re really sure before we do this.”

“I know. Thanks Gabriel,” Sam said as they climbed into bed together and were soon asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms. 

It was a few days later when Gabriel was back to full strength, or close enough to it at least and he went searching for Ketch. He found him in the farthest room in the farthest hallway. None of them had seen hide nor hair of him since Gabriel had sent him fleeing so they supposed that he was eating and such at night, and the fact that he seemed to be healthy enough, said they were right. “Did you decide if you’d rather go off on your own or go to your brother?” Gabriel asked him. 

“I don’t know if my brother would want to see me,” Arthur admitted. 

“He does. He never stopped asking about you. He would love to have you back. I can even make you look like him so you can be twins again,” Gabriel offered. 

“Then yes. I would like that.” Gabriel snapped his fingers and the man disappeared. 

“Okay, now I’m gonna go try and make contact with some of the angels and get the word out that I’m back and plan to take over then I can come back and do you two while the word is spreading if you want?” 

“Sounds good,” Sam said. “Do you know when you’ll be back?” 

“Not sure. Hopefully by tonight, but it might be a few days,” Gabriel told him. “If Cassie pops up, tell him to stick around until I get back. I’d like to have a few words with him.” 

“Will do,” Dean promised.

“Be careful, Gabriel,” Sam said pulling him close. If Lucifer found out what he was doing too soon he could be in serious danger. 

“Always, Samshine,” Gabriel replied pulling him in for a kiss before he disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

Cas ended up checking back in that afternoon, and Dean told him to head back to the bunker. He’d been out looking for leads on Lucifer and/or Jack and hadn’t checked in for a while. Ever since he’d been kept prisoner by Asmodeus, Dean was a lot less likely to give him sensitive information over the phone though. At least in person he could be reasonably sure that Cas was really Cas. Cas got back early the next morning while Sam and Dean were still sleeping, but Gabriel wasn’t back yet, so he headed to the library to wait for them to wake up. He still didn’t even know about Gabriel, so he would be getting a major surprise. 

Unfortunately for Cas, Sam was the first one up. He found that he was suddenly having trouble sleeping without his angel. He found Cas in the library and the first thing out of his mouth was, “Why didn’t you tell us Gabriel was alive?” 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Cas said confused. 

“Gabriel said that he was resurrected by Metatron with the angel tablet. He said that he talked to you. He’s spent the last four years thinking that we didn’t want anything to do with him because we never contacted him,” Sam accused. 

“I…I apologize, Sam. I did speak with him then, but I assumed it to be a trick of Metatron’s. it was in an illusory world that Gabriel had supposedly created, and I wasn’t aware that it was really him,” Cas said apologetically. 

Sam’s anger deflated quite a bit at that, but he still had something to say on the matter. “Still, you should have told us. We should have known there was a possibility at least. A simple prayer could have cleared the matter up.”

“You are correct. I wasn’t aware that his state was of so much concern to you or I would have,” Cas assured him. “So you have seen him? Spoken with him?” 

“We have. We had to break him out of Asmodeus’ cells first but he’s been staying here for most of a week. He’s out putting the word out to the angels that he’s back and will be taking over heaven from Lucifer at the moment. He should be back any time now though,” Sam told him. 

“I am very glad to hear that,” Cas said just as Dean found his way into the library. 

“Hey Cas. How come you never told us about Gabriel?” Dean asked with far less anger than Sam had, but it was still a valid question. 

Before Cas could ever open his mouth to answer, Sam gave Dean a quick rundown of what they had already discussed as they made their way to the kitchen so the humans could have breakfast. “Why did you need me to come back?” Cas asked. “Was it just to tell me about Gabriel?”

“Nah. Gabriel wanted to talk to you about something and asked us to keep you around until he got back,” Dean told him as he popped some waffles into the toaster while Sam started the coffee. The three of them whiled away the morning waiting for Gabriel. Neither of the hunters mentioned their own upcoming ascension, not sure if Gabriel wanted Cas to know just yet. They would let Gabriel talk to him about his plans first. 

It was mid-afternoon before Gabriel got back and immediately pulled Sam in for a kiss. He’d only been gone for a day and a half, but he’d been taken aback at how much he missed his hunter. It was only after that that he noticed that Cas was there. “Cassie! Little brother! How come you never told these boneheads I was alive?” That question was met with laughter from both Winchesters and he got the hint that he must have missed something. 

Cas just sighed and said, “That is the third time I have been asked that question,” but then he went into the same explanation he’d given Sam and apologized to his brother for doubting him. Gabriel easily forgave him and then launched into his own explanation about what he had planned for heaven. Once it was over, Cas asked, “What do you need from me brother?” 

“For now, Cassie, I need you to stay here and out of the way,” Gabriel told him. At the hurt look on Cas’ face, he explained. “From what I understand, you aren’t very well liked in heaven at the moment. The last thing I need is divisions on my side while we’re trying to take down Lucifer. Once that’s done and everything is settled, I plan to officially forgive all crimes committed in the past…”

“All crimes?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“Yes, Dean. All crimes. Unless you want me to put Cassie here on trial and punish him accordingly. He has caused the deaths of more angels, both directly and indirectly than anyone else in heaven’s history. The only way to get him off the hook is to forgive ALL crimes. I can hardly punish other people for lesser crimes and let his slide,” Gabriel pointed out. He could see the stricken look on Cas’ face so he turned to his brother in all seriousness. “Look, Castiel. I understand why you did what you did. I understand the situations that you were placed in and the impossible choices that you had to make. You screwed up. Badly. But your heart was always in the right place. I can’t in good conscience give you any kind of leadership role in the new heaven, but you will be welcomed home. I promise you that. Can you live with that?” 

Cas took a deep breath. “What if I want to stay here with Dean and Sam?” 

Gabriel looked between them both and they both nodded at him. “Thing is, Dean and Sam will be there too. They will be among the first of the new angels that I’ll be creating.”

Cas’ face fell. “I…I don’t know if I can face them,” he admitted. 

“Chin up, Cassie. Like I said, all past crimes will be forgiven. I can’t promise everyone will be nice, but they will be required to be civil. You have a chance that a lot of people never get. You can make amends and rebuild the relationships that you’ve lost. It probably won’t be easy, but it isn’t supposed to be. Take it for the opportunity it is,” Gabriel told him. 

“Very well, Gabriel. I will come home and I will attempt to make amends to those I’ve betrayed,” Cas promised. He had to admit that it would be easier not to do so again now that Dean would be an angel too. His loyalties would no longer be divided. 

“Good man. So any other questions before we angelfy the hunters? Assuming you’re still game that is.”


	10. Chapter 10

When no one said anything, Gabriel followed Dean to his room. He was going to get Sam second that way he could collapse into bed right after. He tossed a few more instructions for Cas for while they were out and told him to wake him if any of the angels tried to contact him, not that he expected them to. He’d told all the ones he talked to that he would be out of contact for a few days. 

Once Dean was out like a light, he followed Sam to what was essentially now THEIR room and laid down with him before flooding his system and then Sam was out too. Gabriel yawned loudly and then curled up at his hunter’s side to sleep himself. It was three days before any of them were awake for more than a few minutes at a time and they were able to actually get to planning. Sam and Dean had a few mishaps before they got used to their new strength and had a bad habit of flying around at the drop of a hat for the first day, but they managed to get a handle on it pretty quickly. Gabriel had been right that it was essentially instinctual. 

A few days after that, Gabriel went with Sam and Dean at his side to meet with some of the angels that would be backing up his bid for power. None of them recognized the Winchesters since they were only recognizable to most by their souls which had been converted to grace. Most angels rarely looked past the soul so even the ones they’d encountered personally would likely not recognize them. The angels could tell that they were new to their powers though and that alone backed up Gabriel’s claim that he could create new angels and pushed any doubts they may have had out of their heads. “How many do we have on our side?” Gabriel asked them once they got down to business. 

“Roughly three hundred. Perhaps more will switch over once we go public. There are about fifty that seem to have embraced Lucifer’s leadership and we didn’t dare approach them while secrecy was essential,” one of them told him, apparently being the spokesperson for the angels. 

“What will we do with Lucifer?” another of them asked. “Will he be killed?” 

Gabriel winced at that. He hated the idea of killing his big brother. “He will be given a choice. The cage, giving up his grace completely and falling, or death. As will any that stand by him.” He just hoped that Lucifer didn’t chose death. That decided, they got ready to go. 

The battle was short. Gabriel’s power was more than a match for Lucifer who was still living partially on borrowed grace, a portion of his own having been used to get him back to this world. With the rest of heaven backing him up, Gabriel was easily able to capture him and the six seraphs that stood by him, including his right hand Jophiel. He put the decision to them all. All of them chose to fall rather than death or the cage and Gabriel couldn’t help but be glad for that. He never wanted any of them to die. He would give them the option at the end of their human lives to retake their places in heaven under the new leadership. Even Lucifer, though the devil would only be a seraph at that point and not strong enough to attempt a coup. He didn’t tell them that though. Let them think it permanent. 

Once they were gone, Gabriel took a deep steadying breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do, and then stepped up to the throne and sat down. The light was blinding as the throne sealed itself to the last acceptable ruler and when the light faded the throne was no longer plain, but decorated rather nicely in a way that spoke a great deal for Gabriel’s personality. It had fitted itself to him. When he looked up, all the angels were kneeling before him, even Sam and Dean. “Rise, brothers,” Gabriel told them. “From now on, you only need to kneel to me if you’re being brought for punishment or any formal business,” he told them. He knew that Michael had always made them kneel every time they were in his presence and he always thought it was stupid. 

“Speaking of punishment, I will tell you now that all crimes committed prior to today are forgiven. No one can be punished for anything done under the old rules. Which means…Castiel,” he paused to call for his errant brother and the seraph appeared before him and knelt. “Castiel is also forgiven for his crimes and you will all treat him accordingly. I do not ask you to forgive him personally. He will have to earn that, but you will treat him with civility as you will each other. Understood?” he asked. When he got nods all around, he told Cas to stand. 

“Now that is taken care of, we will address the biggest problem we face. Our population,” Gabriel told them what he had planned, to only bring in the humans they fell in love with and allow them to reproduce and the questions began to fly. 

“What if they don’t want to become an angel?” and “Are Nephilim still forbidden?” seemed to be the most frequent. 

“If they don’t want to become an angel then you will have a choice to make. You will still need to help us repopulate, but it can be done in such a way that you do not betray any love you have. Those of you who choose not to find love in the human world will be offered the same choice. Nephilim are still forbidden. They are too dangerous.”

“What about the Nephilim that is already out there? Lucifer’s son,” one of them asked. 

“I will not execute someone who has done nothing wrong. Should he ever become evil, the full might of heaven will fall on him, but until then, he will be left in peace, and perhaps permitted to live among us if he so chooses. He will be watched carefully though. The child will never be punished for the parent’s sins, but I warn you now, the punishment for creating a Nephilim will not be something that you want to endure. Any further Nephilim will see the parents punished harshly.” He got nods all around. 

Things easily settled into a routine after that. Sam and Gabriel had the first new child born to the angels a year later. There were a few that didn’t want to find love that had children by more clinical means soon after. The first of the human mates was ascended two years after Gabriel took over and from there it was a rather steady stream. Within the first decade all of heaven was ringing with the laughter of children. Sam and Gabriel ended up with six children of their own. Dean found Lisa again and brought both her and Ben in and they had three more children. Cas never found a human love so eventually decided to have a child the more clinical way that had been set aside for those who preferred it. Perhaps someday he would find someone. By the time a hundred years has passed the population of the angels was back at it’s previous levels and the children had injected some much needed heart into said population. 

Sam and Gabriel’s children created a new class of angels between seraph and archangel. They would be the rulers when Gabriel eventually stepped down, but not until they were ready which would be a long time from now. In the meantime, Gabriel ruled with Sam by his side for thousands of years. Jack did eventually return and took his place among the angels. He allowed power suppressors to be put on him so that he was the same power level as Gabriel which made everyone fell much more comfortable about his presence. He could no longer level heaven with just a thought anymore. He renewed his friendship with Sam, Dean, and Cas and added Gabriel, Lisa, Ben, and eventually their children as close companions as well. Eventually he fell in love with one of Gabriel and Sam’s grandchildren which opened up a whole new can of worms. Could a Nephilim reproduce with an angel and what would the outcome of such a union be? In the end, Gabriel gave his permission with the understanding that if the power transferred was too great then the child’s power would be suppressed permanently. They were quite surprised when it turned out that the outcome was an archangel and they had come full circle.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Reunion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13953711) by [drwhogirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drwhogirl/pseuds/drwhogirl)




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